Blogs

I­ started off the a.m. with the "Meet the Editors" event. Tess, Martha and I were more than pleased with our visitors. I met George Siegle from idvsolutions and learned about its work across the verticals with risk visualization. Ron Risley, coordinator of Security/Emergency Management for Winnipeg stopped by and filled me in on how he and his team are using the Carver Threat Assessment model to their advantage.

Also stopping by our event was the Advance Technology guys from Scarborough, Maine! Go figure. They're based about 15 miles from my office and I met them in Vegas! Rob Simopoulos told me about their fourth annual Technology Expo slated for May 16 in Ogunquit, Maine. The expo will include lots of end users, he said. Check it out at: http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b5605171d47b18a27ce3ca9e2&id=d97f250...

As for booth visits, I met with March Networks' Dan Cremins, director of product management, and Net Payne, chief marketing officer, about the next-gen retail platform they debuted at the show. Chief takeaway? "How good can you get it?" That's what Payne emphasized. March Networks is growing fast in banking, retail and transportation sectors.

I also attended a great panel discussion moderated by Sieman's national business manager Berkly Trumbo, who I will be interviewing on the ISC West media stage tomorrow. The topic was "Critical Incidents in Higher Education: The Case for an Intelligent Response." Panelists from MIT, Santa Clara University, Arizona State University and the Clery Center for Security on Campuses had much to say about the usefulness of social media, the ROI of RFID and more.

"Train, train, train" was the mantra of David Burns, manager of Emergency Management at Santa Clara, formerly with UCLA. Trumbo reiterated that point in his closing remarks. I was particularly intrigued by Thomas Komola's assessment of how MIT has changed its practices in the wake of a "fictitious report of a person with a gun wearing body armor" in February of this year. Emergency response to that incident didn't go well, he said, forcing the highly acclaimed school to change its protocols. Stay tuned, because I want to report more on that for you.

At my meeting with Inovonics, we talked about the company's focus on "people protection" as a part of physical security. Dan Commare, VP of marketing, filled me in on the Enterprise Mobile Duress System and where Inovonics is headed with that. "People protection," especially in the case of hospital workers, is key, he said. And it's a growing market. More than 1 million individuals carry the EMDS technology with them, from government employees to senior care facilities. It's more than just a panic button.

Tyco's Jim Stankevich, manager of health care security, former director of security at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC and former president of the International Association of Healthcare Security & Safety and current IAHSS board member, had high praises for the Lynx panic/duress and instant notification system for hospitals, and now, increasingly, for  K-12 schools. Lynx is now in more than 300 hospitals, Stankevich said. I'll be in touch with him for more info for Security Director News as well.

I capped off the day with a tour of the ultra-luxury condos of Panorama Towers about two miles from the Vegas strip. (J-Lo is reported to own one of these most-expensive living quarters you can buy in Vegas. We checked the listings: Six bedrooms/nine baths? Listed for $3.9 million. For those of us less flush, two bedrooms/three baths is going for $1 million flat.) Anyway, Motobix sponsored this media tour to show off its teeny-tiny, unobtrusive cameras that can provide 360-degree surveillance in Panorama's common areas. It was a great overview. I hope to speak with River Polson, Panorama Towers' security director, for a more in-depth discussion soon.

I'm probably forgetting someone, some company I visited, but I don't mean to. It's just been that kind of a whirlwind day.

Tomorrow kicks off with the Security 5K. Followed by more meetings to learn more about what's going on out there in the world of physical security.

Wow.

TELL THE TSA TO KEEP KNIVES OUT OF THE CABIN. That's the message (caps included) from the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions, representing 90,000 members, on its www.NoKnivesOnPlanes.com website.

The group this week has been leafleting at airports to get passengers on their side in opposition to the TSA's announcement last month that it will allow knives with retractable blades less than 2.36 inches and narrower than a half-inch to be carried upon planes as of April 25. The TSA will also allow on board previously banned items such as golf clubs and lacrosse sticks.

The coalition's leaflets, which encourage passengers to sign its online petition, have been distributed at major airports and will continue to be handed out this week.

Hearty congratulations to Julia Pierson, President Obama’s newly sworn-in director of the Secret Service.

Pierson, 53, began her career in the Secret Service three decades ago in Miami. She’s the first woman to ever hold the top post. Good for her!

“As Joe Biden already pointed out this person now probably has more control over our lives than anyone else, except for our spouses," Obama said. "And I couldn’t be placing our lives in better hands than Julia’s.”

Her appointment comes not long after the Secret Service debacle last April in Colombia where 13 agents who were part of President Obama's security detail were found to be involved in a prostitution-related scandal.

Mark Sullivan, the service's director for most of the past seven years, announced his retirement last month after apologizing for the scandal.

Our best wishes to Pierson as she takes on this monumental job. Keep those agents in line while protecting the nation’s leaders.

FEMA is looking for a few good young people. Emphasis on young.

If you know a 12- to 17-year-old "who makes a difference in your community's disaster preparedness" you can nominate him or her to become a part of the National Youth Preparedness Council. Students can also nominate themselves.

The first Youth Preparedness Council was announced last July. The council supports FEMA's emphasis on and dedication to involving the whole community in preparedness related activities.

"Engaging youth is an integral step in preparing the nation for all hazards," FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said in a prepared statement. "Youth have a unique ability to influence their peers and families to be more resilient, and children play an important role in disaster preparedness, during and after a crisis."

Those selected for the council will have the opportunity to "voice their opinions, experiences, ideas and solutions to help strengthen the nation's resiliency for all types of disasters," FEMA said. Council members will represent the youth perspective on emergency preparedness and take information back to their communities. Research shows, FEMA says, that youth who are trained in preparedness are more resilient in actual disasters; they are highly effective messengers for reaching and influencing their parents and other adults; and youth engaged today will ensure a future generation of prepared adults.

Those selected, along with one of their parents or guardians, will get an expense-paid trip to attend the Youth Preparedness Council Summit this summer.

Sounds like an excellent opportunity for civic/security-minded tweens and teens. For more information, including eligibility requirements and nomination forms, go here.

The deadline is April 19.